Three Parts Dead
by wildsky
Summary: Alec returns to Seattle after a five year absence, scarred in more ways than one. What happened during the missing years and can he reconnect with those he left behind? Chapter 6: Twenty Questions is now up. MA friendship fic. Please read and review!
1. The Challenge

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**THE CHALLENGE**

**This is an answer to CandyCentric's "Return of the Prodigal Son" challenge on NWP.**

**TIMELINE:** Set 5 years after Freak Nation.

**CHALLENGE:** In 'Love Among the Ruins', when Max tells Alec about their 'pretend relationship', Alec decides he's had enough. He's done being Max's whipping boy and he wants to see the world. He didn't leave Manticore just to get trapped in a Transgenic War. He tells Max he's leaving as soon as he gets some loose ends tied up and when he goes to see Logan he tells him the truth about him and Max. Max is angry and upset that Alec is just running and that he told Logan. And while she's also upset that he's leaving _her_, she's never exactly been the greatest at admitting & expressing her emotions.

He still helps them during the Jam Pony Siege but leaves at the end of Freak Nation only to return five years later.

Where did he go and who did he meet? Why does he come back? What happened to the inhabitants of TC while he was away? Will they welcome him back or shun him for leaving? And have there been any significant others in Alec or Max's lives while he's been away?

**REQUIREMENTS:** Only one. Max & Logan can not be together when he returns, but the reason why is up to you, if Logan's even still alive.


	2. No Place Like Home

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

"_To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead_."

- Bertrand Russell

**THREE PARTS DEAD**

**Chapter 1: No Place Like Home**

**Seattle, Washington, January 2027AD**

Alec sat in the front seat of a weather-beaten pick-up truck, staring at the far distant gates with tired hazel eyes.

In the pre-dawn darkness, Terminal City looked deceptively peaceful. There was no hint of movement, no sign of life. No picketers marching along the perimeter. No military. Just the odd sector police patrol car cruising around the fence. If he hadn't known any better, he'd have thought it really was abandoned.

Five years ago, he'd stopped at this very spot and looked back, gazing upon the place he'd very nearly called home. It seemed like an eternity had passed since then. He'd thought that part of his life was over and done, that he'd never see Seattle again. That had certainly been his hope in any case. He'd walked away of his own free will and it had been a long time since he'd felt even a twinge of regret about that fact.

He still wasn't sure why he'd decided to come back. There were an infinite number of other cities he could have chosen, where he could have easily vanished into obscurity. Hell, he could have been safely over the Mexican or Canadian borders by now. So why was he sitting there, preparing to walk into the proverbial lion's den? Or lioness' den, in this particular case.

Alec exhaled slowly and leaned back in the seat, grimacing as a stab of pain sliced across his back at the contact, even through the worn leather of his jacket. He closed his eyes and sighed, drinking in the silence. He wasn't anticipating a warm welcome considering how he'd left things.

"_Alec, you can't just leave!_"

"_The hell I can't. Logan's your problem, not mine_."

"_It wasn't like that!_"

"_Then what exactly was it like? Is blaming me just a habit by now or what?_"

"_I told you. I had to push him away. We've already had too many close calls and he thought that we had a thing anyway_."

"_Yeah, well, you don't have to worry about that any more. I told him the truth._"

"_What?!_ _Alec, he's going to get himself killed!_"

"_Hey, don't come crying to me 'cause you couldn't be honest with the man you keep telling me you love_."

It had been a low blow – he admitted that. He'd always considered her a friend… well, after the whole breeding partner and virus fiascos had blown over. Before then he'd just thought she was a traitorous bitch who was too pretty for her own good. But even his patience with her had limits and he'd decided enough was enough when she'd used him as an excuse to break up with her boyfriend.

A guy could only take so much, you know?

All the same, he'd wondered from time to time if she was okay. He figured he owed her that small measure of concern. After all, she'd named him and freed him and he wasn't completely ungrateful. He just hadn't wanted to get caught in the middle of a full-blown three-sided war between the transgenics, the Familiars and the ordinaries.

It was a game of survival and he hadn't liked his odds, especially when most of the transgenics were holed up within a twenty block radius that made a very tempting target.

"_What about Joshua? And OC and Sketchy? You can't just abandon them! They're you're friends!_"

"_They were getting along fine before I showed up, Max, and I'm sure they'll be fine once I'm gone_."

"_Alec, please don't go. We need you_."

"_You don't need me, Max_. _If you want to stay here and die, that's your choice_."

"_You're a selfish bastard, you know that?_"

Transgenic memory was both a gift and a curse. He could remember the exact shade of Rachel Berrisford's eyes when they caught the light and every single brushstroke of Joshua's paintings. No amount of time or wishing would make two rounds of reindoctrination fade into the distance. He remembered it all with frightening clarity.

On the other hand, he could choose to forget. Manticore had taught him how. But would that really be any better? He'd done it once before with Rachel, suppressing everything to escape the pain for a few short years before it all came rushing back. All he had to do was concentrate and bury the things that hurt deep in his subconscious.

Only he couldn't.

Not again.

He blinked slowly, drawing in a deep breath as he focused on the gates once more. He'd been staring at them for what seemed like hours. It had certainly been long enough for whatever warmth had once been in the cab of the pick-up to flee into the night. The air was now icy cold and his breath misted as he exhaled.

For some reason, Seattle – and Terminal City – just felt… safe. Completely, irrationally safe.

Alec reached out and turned the key in the ignition. The engine sputtered for a few moments in protest but finally co-operated, rumbling irritably beneath the hood as he eased the handbrake down and manoeuvred the vehicle back onto the street.

The car puttered its way along the familiar road, carrying the X5 with the weary green-gold eyes ever closer to his goal.

**Terminal City**

Max stirred in the bed and slid an arm under the soft pillow, burrowing into it as she tried to get comfortable. She screwed her eyes shut, determined to get a few more minutes sleep. It was wonderfully warm under the doona and the chill in the air told her that this was perfect snuggle weather.

She purred against the pillow, smiling slightly as she shifted again and rolled onto her stomach, feeling the sheets slide against her skin. It was her first personal day in ages and she had every intention of relaxing… even if it killed her. Original Cindy had promised to take the day off and they were going to make the most of it. In the meantime, Max was trying to master the fine art of sleeping in – which in the case of a nocturnal X5 meant getting three or four hours of sleep instead of one.

Usually she wouldn't have had any problems filling in the extra time. There were several others like herself, transgenic and transhuman alike, who were happy to while away the time in each other's company. Right at that moment though, she really wished that she wasn't alone in the bed. Her eyes opened slowly and with an exasperated sigh, she flopped onto her back and stared up at the ceiling.

No way was she going back to sleep with _that_ thought running through her mind. Hmm… when was her heat due? Oh right, not for another seven weeks. Normal thoughts, not hormonal ones. It was all good.

Coffee. Must have coffee.

With an effort, Max dragged herself out of the cosy bed and reached for some clothes, brushing her unruly hair out of her face as she glanced at the empty side of the double bed. She slipped into her jeans, her gaze fixed on the window and the swirling night sky she could see on the other side, and picked out a long-sleeved shirt, one of the warmer ones she owned.

She padded into the kitchen and filled the kettle, setting it onto the element to heat while she rummaged through the cupboards, searching for the coffee. It never seemed to be in the same place twice – one of her roommate's more annoying habits.

A part of her was still reluctant to let her guard down, even if it was only for a little while. For so long, just surviving from one day to the next had been an uphill battle. A day off was a luxury that nobody – let alone one of the leaders of Terminal City – could afford to indulge in. On some level she was still half-expecting a bomb to drop on them at any given moment but that was what five years of constant, tangible danger and eleven years of running from secret military organizations did to a girl.

Or maybe it was the nightmarish lynching outside of Chicago – the latest in a long line of incidents where Freaks and Ordinaries had clashed. What really got her riled was that it wasn't always the Ordinaries who were at fault. For some transgenics, violence was so ingrained that they seemed to crave it.

Transgenics were survivors. They were designed that way, trained that way. But every time one of their kind fought back, their entire race suffered from the resulting backslide in public opinion.

Live as pariahs or die as martyrs.

It wasn't Max's idea of paradise.

It would never really be over. She knew that and accepted it but at least things had calmed down to the point where sporting a barcode was not an immediate death sentence – not in Seattle anyway. It made people wary and curious for the most part, not necessarily vengeful.

Seeing as how Max was one of the most easily recognized transgenics in America, that was a very good thing in her opinion. It was all well and good to live within the Terminal City limits to show her support for the transhumans who had yet to be accepted outside of its boundaries. However, she had friends and responsibilities outside the fence that she couldn't and wouldn't ignore.

She even wanted to see Normal, of all people. Her former employer had proven to be an unshakable ally.

All in all and speaking comparatively, of course, things could have been a lot worse.

The kettle began to whistle and Max savoured the smell of the coffee as she poured in the boiling water and milk. She moved over to the window and sat down on her old sofa, watching the snow that was beginning to float down from the sky. She'd never been overly fond of winter. Falling into a frozen pond in Gillette had cured her of any affection she might have felt for the season but every now and then it would snow and she'd smile a little. If nothing else, it made for a beautiful view.

She'd just gotten comfortable when there was a knock at the door. Max looked up, frowning a little. Griffin had taken the night shift for her so there wasn't any reason for her to be disturbed at her apartment… unless something had happened but then Dix or Luke would have paged her.

Out of sheer curiosity, she got up to see who it was, brushing her black hair back behind her ear.

Max opened the door and froze in her tracks. She blinked, completely stunned, as her brain caught up with her eyes and matched a name to a face she hadn't seen in five years and hadn't expected to see ever again.

She'd have known him anywhere. The handsome features, the dark blonde hair, the smattering of freckles across his nose. His already fair skin was pale but it was his eyes that had changed the most. They weren't sparking and laughing like they used to.

Ringed by darked circles, they looked so… _old_.

"Alec?" she stammered, finally managing to form the word.

"Hey, Max."


	3. Surprise!

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**Chapter 2: Surprise!**

**Terminal City**

"What are you doing here?" Max blurted out, staring at him in total disbelief. She just stood in the doorway, trying to figure out how to react. It seemed rather surreal to open the door and find his face staring back at her.

"Aren't you going to invite me in?" he prompted her gently, his lips curving upwards slightly.

Max blinked but didn't reply. She just stepped aside and watched him walk into her apartment, taking in the changes five years had wrought.

He was still pretty. She knew that would probably never change but he'd filled out and muscled up a bit. His hair was shorter, more like it had been when she'd first met him at Manticore, yet his face was darkened by two or three days growth of stubble. He seemed slightly taller and the collar of his brown leather jacket was turned up, concealing the barcode on the back of his neck.

At least he'd learned something while he was away.

She was more concerned by the tension in his stance, the set of his shoulders. He looked exhausted and hurt, his skin leeched of the colour she remembered. Even his trademark smirk seemed to have lost its lustre.

"You haven't changed a bit," he told her warmly.

"Wish I could say the same," Max observed as she folded her arms across her chest. "You look like hell."

"You sure know how to make a guy feel welcome, Maxie," Alec replied with a hint of a smile.

"Are you all right?" Max asked calmly as she ran a critical eye over him, assessing him. Alec just shrugged.

"Haven't had much time to sleep lately," he said dismissively. "I'm good."

Max doubted that. It took a lot of punishment to run an X5 down that badly but she held her tongue. She was still trying to get her head around the fact that Alec was physically standing right in front of her. He'd deserted them five years ago and now he was back. He was in her living room, making small talk as if nothing had happened.

Max's temper started to simmer.

"So where have you been?" she asked as an edge crept into her tone.

"Lots of different places," Alec replied simply. "Nowhere special."

"Nowhere special," she echoed blandly, nodding curtly. "Sounds about right."

Alec cleared his throat softly, the awkwardness of the moment finally getting to him.

"So, uh… how've you been?" he asked, hoping to steer the conversation away from himself but the moment he saw her dark eyes flash, he knew he'd chosen the wrong question.

"How've I been?" she bit out angrily. "You mean since you ran out on us and never bothered to call or let us know that you're alive for five freakin' years? I'm good, thanks."

"Yeah… sorry about that," Alec replied sheepishly, shifting uncomfortably on the spot.

"Whatever," Max huffed, rolling her eyes. "Coffee?"

"Sure," Alec said softly, watching her move around the kitchen. Considering that he'd half-expected her to throw him out on his ass the moment she saw him, their little tête-à-tête wasn't going too badly.

Max's abode seemed quite homey despite its location. Worn but well-cared-for sofas surrounded a low coffee table. Several rugs were laid out on a polished wooden floor that had seen better days. Curtains framed the windows. He glanced around and wasn't surprised to see her beloved Ninja parked in a corner. He figured it would take nothing less than death to part Max and her motorcycle.

"I see you finally got a television," Alec commented.

"It's not mine," Max shrugged. "I don't really watch it."

"It's a nice place you've got here," he tried again. "Been living here long?"

"About two years," she replied shortly. "Milk?"

"Yeah, thanks," he said with a sigh, realizing that she wasn't about to invite any kind of meaningful conversation about her life. "How come you're still living in TC? I saw on the news that most of the Xs moved back out into the rest of the city."

"I'm not going anywhere until the transhumans can too," Max told him matter-of-factly. "The Council voted to keep them penned even though they let the Xs out."

Loyalty had always been one of Max's best qualities. He could see her determination written clearly across her features and it almost made him smile.

Almost.

"How's Joshua?" he asked carefully. Max looked up, her eyes narrowing as if she were gauging his sincerity.

"He's fine," she replied, apparently satisfied that his concern for the Big Fella was genuine. "His paintings are really popular. Rita sells them for him."

"Good," Alec whispered thoughtfully. "That's good."

Max handed over the mug of steaming coffee and cocked her head, regarding him curiously for a long moment.

"Alec."

He looked up from the mug to find Max's brown eyes boring into his.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she asked, enunciating each word slowly. "It's been five years. Why now?"

"Look… I'm not here to wedge myself back into your life, Max," Alec told her hesitantly. "Me and mine just need a place to hole up for a while."

Max gave him a quizzical look, her curiosity piqued. "You and yours?"

"Friends," he informed her. "We had to clear out in a hurry."

"So you typically screwed everything up and figured we'd bail you outta trouble," Max surmised, fixing him with a glare that had withered lesser men on the spot. "How am I doing so far?"

"It wasn't quite like that," Alec hedged and something in his face stopped Max from launching into a full-blown tirade. In the time she'd known him, he'd never once willingly asked for her help. Yet here he was. Asking. Five years later.

"Do you need anything else?" she asked at length.

"Just somewhere safe to lay low is all," he assured her. "We'll take care of ourselves."

"Yeah, you were always good at that," Max replied blandly, knowing from the flicker in his eyes that he'd caught the sarcasm embedded in that simple sentence. Alec's expression, on the other hand, didn't change. It was the same look she'd seen on his face at Jam Pony after Rachel Berrisford had died.

_I'm always all right_.

He wasn't going to tell her what was wrong… not now.

"Okay," she decided finally. "I'll organize something inside the Terminal City limits. Are you set for the night?"

"Yeah, we're good for the moment," Alec replied and Max nodded.

"Be at headquarters tomorrow morning at oh-nine-hundred and report to the CO on duty," she instructed him. "You remember where that is?"

"Yeah, I remember," he assured her. "We'll be there."

"Good," Max replied simply, staring him down over the counter. "Don't be late."

Alec's green-gold eyes held her gaze for several seconds before he nodded. "Thanks." He put the untouched mug of coffee down and shifted where he stood. "I guess I'd better get going."

"Guess so," Max replied calmly.

"Bye, Max."

Alec walked sedately towards the door but paused on the threshold and looked back.

"It's good to see you again," he said softly and stepped out. Max watched him leave in silence, the scene eerily reminiscent of the last time he'd walked out of her life. Yet as she closed the door behind him, she could have sworn that she caught the very faint scent of blood.

**Sector Twelve**

Alec parked the pick-up truck at the far end of the carpark of the Kung Pow Motel and took a moment to reflect on the night's events.

Seeing Max again had been… strange.

Not bad. Just weird. He hadn't expected it to be like old times and it hadn't been. She'd bordered on cold but she hadn't turned him down and right then that was all that mattered. Safety was his only concern and there was no doubt in his mind that Seattle – and particularly Terminal City – was their best hope for that.

"Where the hell did you disappear to?"

The X5 male who emerged from the shadows looked more relieved than angry to see Alec out and about. With his dark skin and clothes, he blended seamlessly.

"I had some business to take care of," Alec replied evasively as he got out of the car but Bale fixed him with a knowing look.

"You went to see Max, didn't you?" he asked. When Alec didn't reply immediately, he shook his head in exasperation. "Didn't we agree that that was my job?"

"I figured it'd be better to get it over with," Alec admitted. "At least now she knows I'm back, she can vent about it and get it all out of her system before you guys have to meet her."

"You're all heart," Bale replied with a roll of his eyes. "You know Zizi's gonna blow her stack, right?"

"Yeah," Alec replied with a wince as they moved towards the motel room. "I know."

"You're a braver man than I am, Alec," Bale sighed. "Better to ask forgiveness than permission, huh?"

"Something like that," Alec agreed as they reached the door, which seemed to fly open of its own accord and revealed a furious young woman in her early twenties standing on the threshold.

"Are you _insane_?" Zizi demanded. The X6 reached out and grabbed Alec by the collar, hauling him inside. Bale sauntered over the threshold in his wake. "What were you thinking?"

"How about you give him a few minutes before you start tearing him to shreds?" Bale suggested calmly. "He's back and he's in one piece.'

"Shut up, Bale!" Zizi snapped as she forcibly sat Alec down on the bed. He shot her an irritated glance but didn't argue with her. "Fletch!"

"I'm not deaf," the medic admonished her as he emerged from the bathroom, towelling his hands dry. He turned his attention to Alec. "How're you feeling?"

"Like I got run over by a truck," Alec replied honestly. "The usual."

"That good, huh?" Fletch cracked a smile.

"Where are Kara and Cyke?" Alec asked, looking around the room.

"Next door," Bale told him. "They're getting some shut eye."

"Which is what you should have been doing," Zizi pointed out, glaring down at him.

"Can we save the lecture for later?" Alec asked, rubbing tiredly at his eyes. "Like Bale said, I'm here and I'm alive. What more do you want?"

Zizi bit her lip, looking miserable as she refrained from commenting on that. "Will you at least let Fletch check you out?"

"Fine," Alec surrendered curtly. Zizi frowned.

"Alec –"

"I said fine," he repeated, giving her a look that clearly indicated that the conversation was closed. A flicker of anger touched her features.

"Fine," she said stiffly, folding her arms across her chest as she schooled her expression into one of perfect neutrality.

"Come on, Ziz, why don't you help a fella find some breakfast?" Bale temporized, knowing that if Zizi kept pushing, Alec was likely to snap at her. "We're running low on supplies."

"Sure," she agreed tersely, snatching her jacket off the rack. She stalked out of the door, slamming it behind her.

"Well, that could have gone worse," Bale observed as he pulled a half-empty packet of cigarettes out of his jacket pocket. "Wish me luck." With that, he followed the female at a more circumspect pace.

Fletch let out a low whistle once they were gone. "You okay, man?"

"Yeah, I'm good," Alec replied with a nonchalance he definitely didn't feel. He slowly stripped off his jacket and his shirt, hissing as he got caught lifting the latter over his head. Fletch reached out and finished the job for him without a word, moving around to inspect Alec's back.

"You've bled through the bandages," Fletch informed him.

"So change 'em," Alec said flatly.

"Watch how you talk to me, smart ass," Fletch reminded him pointedly. "I've managed to keep you out of hospital so far but if you keep pushing it like this, I'll drag you there personally."

Alec glanced over his shoulder at the medic and sighed. "Sorry, man."

Fletch patted him on the shoulder. "It's okay, pal."

Alec scrubbed a hand over his face as the medic set to work re-dressing his wounds. Fletch didn't make any further attempts at conversation. He just did his job, his hands sure but gentle as he patched up the latest in a long line of injured soldiers. Alec spent the time staring out into space, detaching himself from the process as much as possible.

"Zizi's completely freaking out, isn't she?" Alec asked once Fletch was finished.

"You know what she's like," Fletch replied diplomatically as he packed up his supplies. "She feels responsible. It's that ex-whole unit leader thing."

"She's not responsible. That's ridiculous," Alec protested grimly.

"Have you told her that?" Fletch asked, meeting his friend's eyes. Alec didn't reply and the medic sighed. "Yeah, I didn't think so."

"I'll tell her," Alec promised and Fletch nodded in approval.

"You do that."


	4. The New World Order

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's **_**so**_** not worth it.**

**Chapter 3: The New World Order**

**Terminal City Headquarters**

Max strode into the building that had served as transgenic headquarters for the last five years, greeting the familiar faces she passed along the way with a smile and a nod. Most of the residents were transhumans since the majority of the X-series had gladly spread out over the city as soon as they were given the go-ahead. Only a dozen or so remained.

One of those few Xs was currently holed up in the office that the commanding officers shared on their rotating shifts, filling out paperwork – Max's least favourite task. She swung open the door and leaned against the frame, one hand on her hip.

Griffin looked up and leaned back in his chair with a half-smile on his lips.

"Max, I think you're missing the whole point of a day off," he teased her gently. "The sun's not even up yet. I thought you'd at least hold out until nine."

"What can I say?" she shrugged with a dramatic sigh. "I just couldn't stay away."

"Missing me already, huh?"

"A hot water bottle can only do so much on a cold, rainy morning," she replied sagely, making him chuckle as she strode into the room and sat down on the edge of the desk. "I don't have to refill you."

Griffin cocked his head up at her, grey eyes dancing with humour. "Are you saying you only want me for my body heat?"

"Are you gonna let me freeze tomorrow morning if I say yes?" she asked shrewdly.

"Absolutely," he replied with a grin, though they both knew it was a hollow threat. Nocturnals didn't feel the cold as much as the other models – a trait they had in common.

"Then no," she decided. "You have a few other redeeming features I kinda like."

"Only a few, huh?" He got to his feet and circled the desk, one hand sliding around her hip as the other swept a stray lock of hair back over her shoulder.

"Yeah, it's a pretty short list," she teased, smiling up at him. "You might need to work on that."

"Hmm. That could be a lot of fun, now I think about it," he decided, his grey eyes alight. "And it's not like we don't have a lot of time to kill."

"Being nocturnal definitely has its advantages," Max agreed, a mischievous smile lighting up her features as she turned her face up to his and kissed him, her fingers sliding up over his shoulder so that her thumb brushed across his barcode.

"Well, well… looks like I win. Again."

The gruff voice wasn't really a surprise – they'd both heard him coming – but Max gave Mole a withering look nonetheless. The lizard-man lounged against the doorframe and took another puff of his cigar, totally unrepentant.

Griffin rolled his eyes and glanced back over his shoulder. "Mole, did you come here just to play voyeur or did you have something to say?"

Mole simply handed over a sheaf of papers. "Generator's down on the east side," he reported. "Third time this week. Dix is trying to get it goin'."

"Great," Max muttered. "Do we need to do a spare-part run?"

"Dalton's already on it," Mole shrugged, "but we can only keep fixin' the thing for so long. We need a new one."

"We need a lot of new stuff," Griffin reminded him, gesturing at the pile of reports on his desk, to which he added Mole's contribution. "I'll see what I can do."

Apparently satisfied, Mole merely nodded and walked out the door, leaving a trail of smoke in his wake. Max sighed and exchanged a look with her mate.

"Just another day in a broken world, right?" she said ruefully. Griffin caught the shadowed look in her eyes and frowned slightly.

"Max, are you going to tell me why you're paying me a visit when you swore blind you weren't gonna let Mole win another bet?"

Max grimaced. "You're not going to believe who turned up at home about an hour ago," she told him, her good mood evaporating as quickly as it had arrived. "Alec."

Griffin's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Are you kidding?"

Max shook her head. "I wish," she grumbled. "He just showed up on the doorstep like he took off five days ago instead of five years ago. He needs a place to crash for a while."

"Trouble?" Griffin wondered aloud.

"I don't know. He wasn't all that talkative," Max admitted, "which is pretty much a big flashing neon sign that he's in some kind of jam that he can't get out of on his own. He's got some people with him and they need a place to lay low. He said he was set for the night so I told him he could come around at nine and we'd put him up."

Griffin gave her a measuring look. "That's pretty charitable considering that you spent a solid month raging on him after he left. Are you okay with this?"

"Don't have much of a choice, do I? I couldn't exactly tell him to go to hell and take his friends with him."

"Well, you could have but you'd have regretted it," Griffin told her and she reluctantly nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I guess," she conceded, raking a hand through her long hair. "It was so weird. I just opened the door and bang… there he was. He can't do that! He can't just walk in after five years like nothing happened!" She slid off the desk and started pacing like a tiger in a cage. Griffin turned and leaned back against the table, watching her with his arms folded across his chest.

"Max, if he needs help like you said, then I don't think that's what he's doing," Griffin pointed out reasonably.

"Well yeah, if you want to be sensible about it," Max huffed irritably, stopping only put her hands on her hips and make a face. "God, all I wanted was _one_ day without stupid dramas and weird transgenic emergencies and then he showed up and here I am, dumping all over you because I have no idea whether I want to kill him or hug him!"

"I'd suggest hugging him before killing him," Griffin chimed in helpfully. "Just a thought."

Max groaned and flopped down into a chair, letting her head loll against the back of it. "He always did have lousy timing."

She exhaled in a rush and glanced over at Griffin, whose dark hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail that brushed the nape of his neck. Mole had called him a hippie in fatigues the first time they'd met – a moniker which had stuck to Griffin's never-ending chagrin. Max hadn't laughed like that in ages – a real, spontaneous laugh that just bubbled up out of nowhere when she saw the half-annoyed, half-amused look on the newcomer's face. Alec had just clapped his old unit-leader on the shoulder and told him that Mole was never going to let him forget it.

Max had no idea whether she should be angry or relieved that Alec had re-entered her life as swiftly as he'd exited it. He'd left and she'd moved on, building a life for herself and the rest of her kind. He'd been one of her best friends and as such she'd thought of him from time to time but she hadn't spent five years praying for his return.

She kept thinking back to that first glimpse of him on her doorstep, looking worn and lacking the customary spring in his step. He'd still smirked and joked but the spark had been missing. Despite her determination to not care, that kept niggling at her. Alec's energy had always been a living, breathing thing and it seemed to be missing in action.

Then, of course, there was the faint scent of blood. She could have sworn… but he hadn't moved as if he was injured. Max trusted her senses but her nose was arguing with her eyes. Not that Alec hadn't always been good at acting a part.

It was typical. He'd been back for five minutes and she was already wondering if she was going to have to save his ass again.

"What do you think?" she asked finally.

"Couldn't hurt to figure out what brought him back," Griffin replied with a shrug.

"Then I guess we're rolling out the welcome wagon. Now I've just gotta tell Cindy that I'm gonna be late."

**Terminal City, A Few Hours Later**

Alec stared up at the doors of Terminal City Headquarters, steeling himself to pass through them. Memories flashed through his mind like a movie and yet again he cursed his perfect recall. He didn't want to think about that. He didn't want to think about any of it.

_Stop, stop, stop, STOP!_

"You okay, man?" Fletch asked, placing a hand on Alec's shoulder. Alec nodded automatically.

"Yeah, I'm good," he told the medic, his hazel eyes drifting over to his friend.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Fletch wondered, meeting Alec's eyes. "We can still back out, go somewhere else."

"No," Alec denied quickly, shaking his head. "It's fine. Let's go."

X5-494 matched actions to words and strode up the stairs into the building with Bale barely a step behind him, watching his back. Fletch exchanged a speaking look with Zizi, whose lips were compressed into a grim line, before the rest of the group moved to follow Alec.

He pushed the doors wide and walked in like he owned the place, clapping his hands and rubbing them together with a nonchalant calm that every one of the group knew he didn't feel. Zizi pursed her lips, biting back the urge to tell him to cut the bullshit. He wasn't fooling anybody.

Except that he was and it was confirmed the moment someone recognized him.

"Alec?"

A mule-type transhuman had spotted him and perked up, his beady dark eyes wide.

"Hey, Dix," Alec greeted him, flashing his quicksilver smile as the mule dropped his load of spare parts and hurried over.

"Wow. How long has it been?" Dix asked, shaking the hand that Alec offered without a second thought.

"Five years," Alec supplied smoothly. "How've you been, pal?"

"Good, everything's great," Dix enthused. "Just gotta fix one of the generators. What are you doing here?"

"Just figured it was time to show off my old stomping grounds," Alec told him, gesturing towards the group with him. "Guys, this is Dix. He's the tech around here."

"Head tech nowadays," Dix interjected happily. "There's a whole bunch of us now trying to keep this place running. It's a full-time job."

"I'll bet," Alec agreed. "Listen man, we've gotta find the CO, so we'll catch up later, okay?"

"No problem. The office is just off the main surveillance centre," Dix grinned, giving Alec's companions a quick, friendly wave which Zizi rewarded with a tight smile. "Later."

"All right, thanks," Alec replied gratefully, smiling a little as he watched the little transhuman reclaim his load of machinery parts and go about his business. They were stopped several more times before they finally made it to the central hub but Alec handled it all with his customary charm. If his smiles didn't quite reach his eyes, no-one seemed to notice.

Alec caught sight of Max leaning against the far wall, looking rather bored as she listened to the newscaster droning on about how the now-legal transgenic presence among the general population of Seattle had met with mixed results. She glanced up as he descended the stairs.

"You're late," she informed him.

"Ran into some old friends," he replied. "At least a couple of people are glad to see me."

"Whatever," Max shrugged, glancing past him. "Is this everyone?"

"Yeah, this is –"

Max wasn't listening. She did a double-take, her eyes widening as she recognized the black X5 on Alec's left. He caught her eye and grinned, his teeth startlingly white against his dark skin.

"Bale?"

"Hey, Maxie."

Beaming, Max brushed past Alec and jumped into Bale's arms, hugging him tightly. "Oh my God! Where the hell have you been?"

"Here, there and everywhere, baby sister," Bale replied as he released her. "Not everyone made it over the fence in '09 like you did. I've got ten years of lost time to make up for."

"I can't believe you didn't even bother to let me know you were alive, you idiot!" Max chided him, smacking him on the arm. "I saw you at Manticore but I couldn't get near you."

"What, you thought Renfro was gonna risk psychological contamination after they went to all the trouble of reindoctrinating us?" Bale snorted. "Bitch ordered all of us to stay away from you. Made Brin enforce it too. How's that for ironic?"

The mention of her long-lost sister dimmed Max's smile slightly. "Do you know if she got out?"

Bale shook his head. "No idea. I haven't seen her."

Alec cleared his throat to get Max's attention. "Not to interrupt this charming moment or anything but are you the CO on duty or what?"

"No. I am," a new voice interjected – one that Alec immediately recognized. Sure enough, he turned to find himself facing his old unit leader. Griffin looked a bit older but otherwise unscathed by the war that had raged in the streets of Seattle for several years.

"Griff," Alec acknowledged him with a nod as the male came down the stairs behind them. "It's been a long time." The two men shook hands, looking each other squarely in the eyes for a moment before they released each other.

"Welcome back," Griffin finally replied.

"So are you going to introduce us or are you just gonna leave your friends standing there?" Max prompted Alec, folding her arms as she shot him a challenging glare.

Apart from Alec, only Bale and one other were X5s. There was a smaller boy, an X8, who wore a black patch over his right eye that gave him a piratical look. One, the blonde female holding a sleeping toddler with a mop of equally blonde curls, Max immediately pegged as an X6.

"All right," Alec began, gesturing towards the anonymous X5, "this is Fletch." He put his hand on the shoulder of boy with the patch. "Cyke…" Finally, Alec reached the X6 female. "And Zizi and Kara."

Max blinked, her gaze riveted on the child as Griffin did the polite thing and said it was good to meet them. She quickly did the math, eliminating Bale immediately as the father. That left Alec and Fletch… and Fletch's Latino colouring made him an unlikely candidate. Blonde hair was a recessive trait.

Max quirked a questioning eyebrow at Alec, whose expression was frustratingly unreadable. When he held her stare but offered no further information, Max figured she wouldn't get anything more out of him for a while and decided to get them settled in. There'd be plenty of time to drag the facts out of him later… without an audience.

"All right, people. Follow me."


	5. Treading Water

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's **_**so**_** not worth it.**

**Chapter 4: Treading Water**

**Terminal City**

The silence was almost deafening as the group followed Max and Griffin to the quarters they'd been allotted so when Griffin's phone rang just as they reached their destination, he grimaced as he pulled it out of his pocket to look at the screen.

"Sorry, guys, I've gotta take this," he apologized. Accustomed to such interruptions, Max just waved him off as he answered and kept walking into the building.

"Are you coming?" she called over her shoulder, glancing back at them. She led them up to the second floor.

Alec took in his surroundings, noting the changes he saw. Terminal City, in its entirety, was much cleaner than it had been when he'd left. The transgenics clearly hadn't let a little thing like a siege break the neat-and-tidy habits of twenty years of military living. If Alec didn't miss his guess, the whole place had been scrubbed from top to bottom.

A flash of Max on her hands and knees scrubbing floors momentarily lifted his spirits. He'd have paid to see that – the notorious X5-452 playing scullery maid. Zizi spotted the flicker of humour in his expression and gave him a questioning look but he just shook his head.

"Nothing," he said softly as Max unlocked a door and stepped inside, leaning against the frame as they filed in. Alec was the last to enter, stopping just over the threshold to scan what had been built as a large family apartment back in the day. The others busied themselves with checking out the facilities while Zizi immediately disappeared into one of the bedrooms with Kara.

Max turned to face Alec, questioning brown eyes colliding with hazel.

"She's a cute kid," Max ventured, curious to see if he'd volunteer any information on his own or if she was going to have to beat it out of him.

_Just like old times_, a small voice in her head chimed in.

"She is," Alec agreed but went no further. Max's patience eroded just a tiny bit more. She didn't know how to handle this quiet version of Alec. The X5 she remembered had never seemed to stop yapping and now all she wanted him to do was talk. The irony wasn't lost on her.

"Is she yours?" Max asked flat-out as she realized that holding her breath while waiting for him to open up on his own would be hazardous to her health.

Something flickered in Alec's green-gold eyes. "Yeah."

Max nodded, her lips twisting a little as she absorbed that single syllable. "Well, don't go all doting-daddy on me," she replied, hoping to provoke a response – anything would do – but he just looked at her with that damnably impassive expression on his face. "Okay, are you sure that you're Alec and not another clone? 'Cause the guy I knew? He would _never_ shut up."

"Maybe he doesn't feel like talking," Alec suggested softly and something in his tone tugged at Max's heartstrings.

"Maybe not," Max conceded with a small shrug. "But a girl can't help feeling curious 'bout why he came back after all this time."

"Max…"

"Let me guess," Max said, rolling her eyes. "Curiosity killed the cat."

His lips twitched slightly. "Exactly."

"And we all know how well it turned out the last time you told me that," she reminded him, folding her arms as Zizi returned. "So I'm going to give you the same advice I did back then. If you need my help, ask for it now before –"

"I screw everything up?" Alec finished for her. She nodded slowly, watching him carefully. "Sorry, Max, you missed the boat on that one." With that, he turned away and walked into the bedroom where the X6 had deposited Kara. Zizi watched him go with worried green eyes that eventually turned wary as they fixed on Max.

The brunette glanced over at Bale. "Don't s'pose you're gonna fill me in?" she asked, though she had a feeling she already knew the answer.

"Just give him time, Max," Bale advised. "It's the only thing that's going to help."

"Great," Max muttered, shaking her head. "You know that giving him time usually gets him into more trouble?"

"Trouble's come and gone, baby sister," Bale replied grimly. "Now we're just picking up the pieces."

"Okay, can we stop with the cryptic crap?" Max huffed. "Somebody just give me a straight answer. What the hell happened to you people?"

"None of your damn business," Zizi bit out, green eyes flashing at the X5 female.

"Easy, Ziz," Fletch cautioned her when Max bristled. The medic looked Max squarely in the eyes as he spoke. "We're not trying to be difficult –" Zizi opened her mouth but Fletch held up a hand to forestall an outburst. "We're not," he repeated patiently, returning his focus to Max, who looked decidedly sceptical. "We weren't there until the final act, Max. Simple as that. We can't tell you what happened when we don't know the whole story ourselves."

Max relaxed slightly, reading between the lines easily enough. Alec had gotten separated from his friends and, whatever had happened between that time and when they'd rescued him, Alec wasn't talking to them about it either. Feeling a bit better now that she knew she wasn't the only one in the dark, Max's gaze slid to Zizi, who was still looking at her like a nuclear bomb she wanted to be far away from, and she nodded in understanding.

"All right… well, you guys should get settled in," she told them, backing off for the time being.

"Thanks, Maxie," Bale replied, giving his sister a smile as she made a beeline for the door. He followed and caught her in the corridor. "Thanks for not pushing."

"I'd hold off on saying thanks for another couple of days if I were you," she cautioned him. "I'll see you later." With that, she clapped him on the shoulder and headed down the stairs.

"Griff?"

"Over here." He was lounging against the brick wall of the building beside her Ninja, his cell phone held up to his ear. "Yeah, I'll let you know when we can go. Sure. Bye."

"Mole?" she asked knowingly.

"That'd be the one," Griffin replied as he pocketed the phone. "Everything okay?"

"No idea," Max sighed, chewing her lower lip as she raked a hand through her hair. "Something's going on but the others said Alec's the only one who knows the whole story."

"Well, that's helpful," Griffin deadpanned.

"I'll have to get him away from his watchdogs if I'm going to get anything useful out of him. It's like talking to a wall, especially with them around," she groused, making a face. "Figures that the one time I actually want him to start talking, he won't."

"So he still has the power to annoy you," Griffin surmised. "Some things never change."

"I guess," Max conceded, smiling a little.

"Don't worry. I'm sure that buried beneath that sullen exterior there's a smart-ass just screaming to get out."

Max laughed softly. "Hope so. Giving him hell is much more fun when I don't feel like I'm kicking a puppy."

"Yeah, Josh'd probably have your head for that," Griffin joked. "He's got a whole menagerie over there, hasn't he? Kittens, puppies, piglets…"

"Those piglets happen to be your niece and nephew," Max pointed out.

"Hey, they come from your side of the family," Griffin reminded her with a grin. "I'm just the schlub who married into it, so to speak."

"And that's my fault how?" Max asked, all innocence as she sidled closer to him and gazed up at him with teasing brown eyes. Griffin's smile widened.

"That list is probably better repeated in private," he told her.

"Smart boy," she agreed mischievously before checking her watch. "I'd better go before I have to cancel on Cindy again. Can you keep an eye on things around here?"

"You don't pay me to do the laundry," Griffin replied, then seemed to think about it for a moment. "Actually, I don't get paid at all."

"You know, I never thought I'd actually miss minimum wage," Max reflected, wrinkling her nose. "Is that as bad as I think it is?"

"Much worse," Griffin decided. "I think the toxicity might finally be getting to you."

"I need to get out of here, don't I?"

"More than you know," Griffin agreed. "Go on. I can make sure Alec and his friends stay out of trouble while you go and talk it to death with Cindy in person instead of over the phone for a change."

"Sounds good." Max smiled and kissed him swiftly. "Consider me gone."

**Inside the Building**

Alec gazed through a window as Max walked away and turned back to look at the bed where Kara was sleeping fitfully. He lost track of how long he just stood there, arms folded as he watched her. She was so small – much smaller than she should have been but getting her to eat had become a nightmare.

He knew the moment she woke up. Her breathing changed and her lashes slowly lifted to reveal bleary hazel eyes. Other than that, she didn't move. She didn't acknowledge his presence the way she used to. She didn't start toddling around, getting into mischief and making as much noise as she possibly could.

Green-gold eyes identical to his own fixed on nothing in particular as Alec hunkered down beside the bed and gently brushed blonde curls away from her face.

"Hey there, baby," he whispered, hoping that today might be the day something changed and she'd revert back to the adorable ball of energy he remembered. "It's Daddy." She blinked and stirred but didn't respond and Alec felt his heart sink yet again. Anger and fear and helplessness rose up and almost swallowed him whole.

He hated it. He hated being powerless. He hated knowing that it never would have happened if he'd just been more careful, if he'd paid more attention. If he'd been faster or stronger.

If he'd been better…

Zizi knocked gently on the door and opened it just enough to stick her head in. Alec scrubbed a hand over his face, wishing instant bodily harm on the intruder.

"Alec? Are you okay?"

Alec didn't even look up at her. "Not now," he said softly and her face fell.

"Alec –"

"Zizi," he said firmly. "Not. Now."

Zizi swallowed hard and gazed at Kara for a long moment before she complied, closing the door quietly behind her and leaving Alec alone with his daughter once more. He took a deep breath and tried to pull himself together before he reached over and gathered her into his arms, her cheek pillowed against his shoulder. He slowly paced back and forth around the room, humming snatches of lullabies and whispering encouraging nonsense into her ear.

She didn't laugh anymore. She didn't cry. She was completely withdrawn and every day it broke his heart just that little bit more to know he couldn't do a damn thing about it.

"It's gonna be okay, sweetheart," he whispered, his voice breaking as he hugged her just that little bit tighter. "I promise."


	6. The Inner Circle

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's **_**so**_** not worth it.**

**A/N: **Okay, first – huge apologies for the delay in updating.Props to Shiegra, whose thoughts and insights into Max's personality have really made this author re-evaluate her opinion of that character's S2 attitude. Parts of this story are heavily influenced by this.

**Chapter 5: The Inner Circle**

**Sector Five**

Original Cindy opened the door and immediately pulled her oldest friend into a fierce hug. Max grinned and held her tightly for a long moment before they released each other.

"It's been way too long since we've kicked it, boo," Cindy chided her kindly, smiling at the X5 female as she stepped inside. "How're you doin'?"

"Good," Max assured her quickly. "Griff says hey."

"Right back at 'im," Cindy replied warmly. "Coffee?"

"Thanks," Max smiled, leaning across the kitchen counter.

Max inhaled slowly, taking in the scent of the apartment. She missed this place sometimes, not to mention its inhabitant. It was so warm, so welcoming and familiar – a much-loved remnant of her past that she doubted she would ever be able to completely leave behind.

It had been her haven. So much had happened there.

Logan had broken in and taken her Tryptophan, leaving a golden statuette of Bast in its place. Zack had come to her for help after losing Brin, collapsing on her floor. She'd told Alec about Ben and cried in his arms. She'd taken refuge with Griffin after sector cops had almost cut them both down in a hail of gunfire and spent hours sitting on the floor, avoiding the windows and having a real conversation with him for the first time. And last but certainly not least, she'd lived with Original Cindy – her best friend, her rock – until the Jam Pony siege had forced her to relocate to Terminal City.

The only thing Max regretted was that she couldn't spend more time with her friend.

"So tell me about this new lickety-boo you mentioned on the phone," Max urged, smiling at the way Cindy's expression warmed.

"Her name's Tamsin," OC obligingly informed her. "She's the new bartender at Crash. Hummer hired her a couple o' weeks ago. Let me tell ya, sugah, the sista is _fine_. Long wavy hair, stiletto heels…" Cindy took a moment to reminisce, a dreamy expression coming over her face and Max's grin widened. "Girl can take care of herself too. Some punk tried to grab her ass. She hit the nose and broke it."

"And you naturally felt that she could use a drink after that," Max commented slyly.

"Damn straight, boo," Cindy agreed as she placed the kettle on the stove. "Original Cindy ain't seen a punch like that from a human in way too long and she ain't no transgenic-hater neither. Got her head screwed on right."

Max's lips curved upwards at that, more grateful than Cindy would ever know that her friend had stood by her through thick and thin. The woman had passed up more than one potential lover because of the prejudice that still ran rife through the city and its inhabitants. She listened, engrossed, as Cindy rambled on about Tamsin's many qualities while they waiting for the water to boil.

"Seen Logan much lately?" Cindy asked as she added the milk and Max shook her head.

"No, I've gotta swing by there later," she replied. "Make sure he's still in one piece. Knowing him, he's probably pissed off a whole new batch of drug-dealers or gangsters or something."

"Just watch your back, sugah," Cindy cautioned her and Max smiled.

"Always do," Max replied with a nod as Cindy handed her a steaming mug.

Cindy studied her friend over the rim of her mug, pleased by the positive changes time had wrought. When she'd first met Max, the teenage girl had been full of sass and self-confidence. She'd lived from one day to the next on her own terms, bitching when she felt like it, having fun and generally flying under the radar.

Logan had opened Max up to the world, shown her how to care about the people that existed outside of her own life. Cindy suspected that that might have been the first time in Max's life that she'd allowed herself to want something that didn't run on gas.

"So you wanna tell Original Cindy why you're late, boo?"

"I need some advice," Max admitted, plunking herself down on the sofa and curled up to get comfortable, nursing the mug of coffee in her lap.

"Well, you're in the right place, sugah," Cindy replied as she sat down beside Max. "What can I do for you?"

"Alec's back."

Cindy's brows shot up into her hairline. "Damn… Voluntarily?"

"Doubt it," Max replied crisply and told Cindy the entire story.

"He's seriously got himself a little girl?" Cindy asked when she was finished.

"Yeah," Max replied, smiling a little. If nothing else, the slumbering child had been adorable. "Her name's Kara."

"Well, I guess it's safe to assume hot boy lived up to his name while he was away," Cindy surmised. "So you don't think he came back 'cause he was feelin' nostalgic?"

"Yeah, we're all gonna sit down around the camp fire and sing kum ba yah," Max deadpanned, rolling her eyes. "Something happened to them but no-one's talking. Even Alec, if you can believe it."

"You think he got hurt?" Cindy wondered.

"I don't know. That's half the problem," Max admitted with a puzzled frown. "He said he needed to lay low and Bale's being all cryptic –"

"Whoa, hold up. Who's Bale?"

At that question, Max grinned. "He was one of the kids in my unit who didn't make it over the fence in '09. Turns out he's one of Alec's crew. You should see him," she enthused. "Muscles everywhere. Kendra would totally melt into a puddle."

Cindy laughed softly at the visual that provoked. "A good-lookin' X5," she marvelled. "Imagine that."

"Yeah, I get the feeling he's the bodyguard of the group," Max mused out loud. "But this Zizi chick is going way over the top with the whole protective vibe. She practically bit my head off."

"Is that the baby's momma?" Cindy asked, putting all the pieces together as best she could.

"I think so," Max said, making a face. "Zizi's the one who's been carrying Kara around from what I've seen and they're both really blonde. The kid's got Alec's eyes though."

"Probably gonna be a looker when she grows up then, huh?" Cindy joked.

"It's definitely in the genes," Max agreed and sighed in frustration. "I just wish they'd tell me what the hell was going on so I can fix it. It's not like I haven't cleaned up his messes before. You'd think he'd know he can trust me to help him even after he ran out on us."

Cindy watched in contemplative silence as Max lifted her mug and sipped at her coffee. Her boo's dealings with Alec had never been simple. Max had told her the whole story about her time at Manticore – they'd tried to break her, to strip away everything she was. Then Alec had walked into her cell, a copy of the brother she'd loved. He spun her out just by existing yet she'd put enough faith in him to let him help her escape. That faith had then been thrown back in her face when he showed up at Logan's penthouse with a smirk and a gun. It had taken time for the girl to trust her own judgement again, let alone Alec, and then when the chips were down he'd walked away and left Max to fight the good fight alone.

Years later, Max had finally come full circle. Cindy would never go so far as to say that Max had mellowed – the girl still had one hell of a temper and could fight like a thrashing machine – but she'd learned to curb her reckless streak a bit. Her experiences had tempered her, made her stronger and Cindy was proud of her.

"Listen, boo," Cindy began, taking control of the situation as best she could. "I'll call Sketchy, ask him to do some diggin'. What's the point in having a reporter in your hip pocket if you can't get a favour from time to time?"

"You don't think I should ask Logan?" Max asked, giving her friend a questioning look.

"I think we oughta keep this in the family," Cindy informed her, "at least for now. Logan would do anything for you, boo, but he ain't never gonna be cool wit' your boys and that's the straight-up truth."

Max nodded ruefully, knowing OC was right. Over the years, the cyberjournalist had forgiven her for any number of transgressions, both real and imagined, but moving on had never quite made it onto the list. Alec had always been a sensitive subject and Griffin was a flat-out conversational no-fly zone as far as Logan was concerned. It made Max grind her teeth but no amount of arguing or cajoling had improved matters. Sadly, she just couldn't bring herself to cut him out of her life completely.

"It's never gonna get any easier, is it?" Max sighed.

"What's that?" Cindy prompted.

"Life," Max grumbled, staring down at her mug. "Every time I think things are finally falling into place, something turns up and throws everything off."

"Just the way it goes, boo," Cindy replied wisely. "All anyone can do is stay strong in the struggle and hope we find somethin' that makes us happy in between. Don't let hot boy's newest drama getcha down. You'll figure things out like y' always do."

Max smiled gratefully at her oldest friend. "Thanks, OC."

"Anytime, sugah," Cindy assured her. "Now where's that facial scrub? Are we startin' our girly day or what?"

**Several Hours Later…**

Max didn't bother knocking on Logan's door. She let herself in as she usually did, confident that the man would be home. He didn't really leave the house all that much any more, preferring to work on his Eyes Only projects until exhaustion or hunger beckoned.

Today was no exception. Logan was peering at the screen, rubbing his eyes tiredly as she walked in.

"It wouldn't kill you to get some sleep, you know," she informed him, lips twitching as he jumped in his chair and whirled around to face her. Sure enough, his eyes were bloodshot and his cheeks rough after a few days without shaving. He blinked blearily, his eyes slow to refocus after so long without rest.

"Hey, Max," he finally replied. "What are you doing here?"

"Just checking up on you," she shrugged. "Making sure you haven't starved to death in the name of the innocent."

"No, not yet," Logan replied, turning back to his computer. "Give me another couple of days and come around again. I'm sure I'll have wasted away enough to warrant the attention."

Max's lips twisted but she managed to school her expression before the scowl fully emerged. Every time she visited it was the same and her patience eroded faster with each encounter. Five years ago, she could never have anticipated the way things would play out.

_"Will you marry me, Max?"_

_Instead of a ring, he produced a hypodermic needle. Her eyes widened as she realized what it was._

_"Logan…"_

_"Will you?"_

_A breathless smile gave him his answer_.

Max shook herself, saddened by the difference between the man she'd known then and then man he'd become. She was well aware that it was partly her fault and she accepted responsibility for it – hell, that the whole reason she kept visiting him – but that didn't mean she had to like it.

"Need help with anything?" she offered mechanically, privately hoping he'd say no.

He didn't disappoint, simply glancing over his shoulder and shaking his head.

"Call me if you need anything," she told him, just like she did every time she came by, and made a beeline for the door without waiting for an answer. Her Ninja waited outside, gleaming in the dim Seattle sunlight like a beacon.

The tension began draining away the moment the engine fired up and she manoeuvred the motorcycle onto the street, putting as much distance between herself and the house as fast as she could. Her mind returned to Terminal City and the mystery that awaited her there.

Twenty-four hours, she decided. She'd give Alec twenty-four hours and then she was going to get her hands dirty and drag the truth out of him.

After all, curiosity may have killed the cat but the transgenic always landed on her feet.


	7. Twenty Questions

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's **_**so**_** not worth it.**

**A/N: **OMG! An update! falls over dead

**Chapter 6: Twenty Questions**

**Terminal City, The Next Day**

Alec snapped back to consciousness all at once, his heart hammering painfully in his chest. The roaring in his ears seemed to throb in time with his rapid breathing. His eyes flew open and for a moment, he couldn't remember where he was. All he could see was crimson and all he could smell was smoke and blood.

It released him as quickly as it had come upon him, his vision finally sharpening as the flashes receded. He swallowed hard, glancing around the room as cold sweat beaded on his skin and he realized it wasn't just his heart that was pounding.

Someone was knocking on the door.

He looked at the other side of the bed where Kara slumbered on beneath the blankets, her blonde curls as perfect as they had been when he'd closed his eyes. He doubted that she'd moved once during the entire night. He reached out to run a gentle finger along her cheek. She didn't stir at all and he wondered if she was even aware of his presence any more.

With a grimace, Alec carefully pushed himself into a sitting position and waited for the pain that sliced its way down his spine to subside. It was strange – in some places he couldn't feel anything yet in others he felt too much. Fletch had told him it was going to take a long time for his system to recover from the trauma but it was still frustrating to endure. He was essentially helpless, in no physical condition to defend himself or his daughter if the need arose.

He was completely dependent on those around him for protection. Bale and Fletch and Zizi. Hell, even Cyke would probably kick some ass if the situation called for it. The kid was no soft-touch despite his youth.

"Come on, someone open the door!"

Alec looked up, hazel eyes narrowing as he recognized Max's voice. A chill ran through him and he reached for the nearest shirt, easing it over his head and the bandages that swathed his torso.

Outside in the hall, Max huffed impatiently and checked her watch. Twenty-four hours on the dot since her last visit. Who ever said she wasn't punctual?

Twenty-four hours had given Max some time to think the situation and decide how best to tackle it. Force clearly wasn't going to work – Alec would undoubtedly clam up again if she resorted to beating the truth out of him – which meant she had to try a different strategy.

Somehow, it struck her as ironic that she was likening getting into Alec's head to a military assault.

Max raised her fist to hit the wooden barrier again when it swung open to reveal Cyke standing there.

"We heard you, you know," he informed her, blinking up at her with his left eye, the other covered by his customary black patch.

"Then why didn't you open the door?" she asked, regarding him curiously.

"Bale went out to get supplies," Cyke replied as if it should have been obvious. "He said not to open the door until he got back."

"Okay, so why _did_ you open the door?" Max continued, a little puzzled by how the kid's actions seemed to contradict his words.

"I told him to," Fletch informed her, emerging from behind the door. "So are you coming in? Alec's still in bed."

"Some things never change," Max replied as Cyke stepped aside to let her pass. Zizi looked up from where she stood behind the kitchen counter in a bathrobe, buttering toast with more force than was strictly necessary. Green eyes locked onto the brunette, watching her progress as she strode towards Alec's room and rapped on the door with her knuckles.

"Alec, come on. Rise and shine."

Zizi opened her mouth but Fletch sent her a silencing look, gesturing sharply across his throat with one hand. She glared at him in return but her jaw snapped shut as she viciously stabbed an apple with her knife and sliced it in half.

"Alec?" Max tried again.

The door finally opened a crack and Alec peered out at her, his skin suspiciously pale.

"About time. I was starting to think you must have been comatose or something," Max told him, giving him a discerning look. "You don't look so good," she observed, trying to push the door a bit wider but Alec's hand came up to hold it in place. "You feelin' all right?"

"Uh… shower," he grunted and Max quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Okay," she replied slowly. "I'll wait."

Alec nodded and glanced past her to Fletch, who nodded. "I'll be there in a second."

Max gave the medic a quizzical look but he didn't acknowledge it, instead reaching for a mug of black coffee that was sitting on the kitchen counter. Then and only then did he follow Alec back into the bedroom and close the door behind him.

"What, he can't shower by himself?" Max asked, her eyes flicking back over to Zizi as she mentally catalogued the kind of injuries Alec wouldn't be able to dress by himself. Her suspicion that he was hurt had finally solidified.

"He's a parent, remember?" Zizi replied blandly. "Most people consider it irresponsible to leave a child unsupervised."

Max narrowed her eyes and folded her arms, sauntering across the room until she was standing across from Zizi. She hadn't spent five years fighting to keep herself and the rest of their kind in one reasonably intact piece to be cowed by a bit of blonde hostility.

"You're here because I'm letting you stay here, remember?" she pointed out, mimicking Zizi's patronising tone. "The door's right there. You're welcome to leave."

"Don't think you can just –"

"Do you want some breakfast?" Cyke interjected, materializing next to Zizi with his brown eye fixed on Max. Zizi frowned down at him but Max smiled at the interruption. The boy steadfastly ignored Zizi's stern look and Max wondered if the kid often had to act as referee when Zizi was in a bad mood… or if said bad mood was perpetual and he was just accustomed to it.

"Sure," Max agreed, accepting the olive branch the kid was accepting without hesitation. "What are you having?"

"Bale bought some cocoa puff things yesterday," Cyke replied, pulling a box out of a cupboard. "You like chocolate?"

"Are you kidding?" Max grinned and moved around the counter, quickly finding the bowls and spoons. Zizi rolled her eyes and moved away, biting into her toast. Max didn't pay any attention to her, choosing instead to keep chatting with Cyke as he retrieved the milk from the portable refrigerator. She'd already eaten but it couldn't hurt to have a second helping, especially with her metabolism. It was easy to pass the time with him – she'd always liked children and thanks to the breeding females and X8s, she had plenty of experience with them.

Zizi remained silent throughout the entire meal, munching on her toast and apple.

Sitting on the side of the bed after a quick wash, Alec winced as Fletch's glove-clad hands carefully removed the bandages.

"All things considered, you could be a hell of a lot worse," Fletch told him softly, keeping his voice as low as possible so they wouldn't attract outside attention. "At least they're healing, which is more than most ordinaries could expect."

"Good old stem cells," Alec muttered as Fletch's fingers moved over his wounds.

"If we were back at Manticore, you'd be confined to the Infirmary if they even let you out of bed."

"Well, we're not at Manticore, are we?" Alec replied through gritted teeth. "I slept through most of yesterday on that painkiller cocktail you were feeding me. I'll be fine."

"Don't ever use the word 'fine' around a doctor, Alec," Fletch admonished him softly. "We have a habit of busting your bubble."

"My bubble got busted a while ago, Fletch. Didn't you get the memo?" Alec said flatly, his tone all but dead as Fletch reached for the last of the gel he'd been using beneath the dressings.

"Yeah," Fletch sighed sadly. "I got it."

The rest of the session passed in silence, broken only by a few hisses and grunts as Alec's injuries pained him. He finally got his feet and finished clothing himself, glancing at the door as if the devil lurked behind it.

"I don't like leaving her," Alec confessed, swallowing hard as he gazed down at Kara, still swathed in blankets.

"We won't let anything happen to her, Alec," Fletch assured him quietly. "You know we'll protect her."

"I know," Alec replied, meeting his friend's eyes. "But I still don't like it."

"You don't have to go if you don't want to," Fletch reminded him but Alec shook his head.

"You don't know Max," he said, a thoughtful look in his eyes. "She's not the type to let things go."

"Then why'd you want to come here?" Fletch asked shrewdly, fixing his friend with a calculating stare. "If you knew Max was going to start poking around, why come back to Seattle when there are forty-nine other states we could have set up shop in? Not to mention ones where it's easier to disappear into the woodwork. You said yourself that flying under the radar in this place was more trouble than it was worth."

"Yeah, I know I said that," Alec murmured with a soft sigh as he reached for his jacket. "I was also half-delirious on painkillers and sedatives, so you can't hold that against me."

"Whatever," Fletch replied, shaking his head. "Nothing strenuous, you hear me?"

"I'm not going out on a heist, Fletch," Alec chided him.

"Yeah but the unexpected tends to happen to you so take it easy," Fletch told him firmly. "Doctor's orders."

Alec simply nodded and leaned down carefully to press a kiss to Kara's blonde curls.

"I'll be back later, sweetheart," he murmured. "You be good for Fletch, okay?"

Alec pretended not to see the flash of sadness on Fletch's face as he walked out of the room.

Max looked up from the bowl of cocoa puffs she'd devoured and grinned. "Hey there. You hungry?"

Alec's lips twitched slightly as he took in the sign, making a mental note to thank Cyke later for entertaining Max rather than leaving her to deal with Zizi, who was rifling through the supplies Bale had returned with. Bale simply nodded a greeting from where he lounged against the wall beside the door, standing sentinel as he always did.

"No, I'm good," Alec replied evenly and Max's chewing slowed slightly as she regarded him critically. It wasn't like the Alec she knew to turn down food that was cheerfully offered.

"I guess we're good to go then," she surmised, dutifully rinsing her bowl in the sink and ruffling Cyke's hair as she passed. The X8 ducked away, laughing softly at the gesture. "Come on. You mind riding pillion?"

"No, it's fine," Alec told her, shrugging slightly as they moved towards the exit. "Later, guys."

"Bye, Alec," Cyke called after him as the door closed behind them.

"He's a nice kid," Max began, figuring Cyke was a relatively safe topic of conversation as they descended the stairs. "Where'd you pick him up?"

"New Orleans," Alec told her, his lips set in a grim line. "About three and a half years ago now. Some thugs tipped to his barcode and caught hold of him. It turned into a mob pretty fast. By the time we got there and broke it up, they'd gouged his eye out with a switchblade."

Max felt anger blossom as her imagination helpfully supplied a visual of what Alec was describing. She glanced back up the stairs towards the apartment that housed the twelve-year-old X8, her jaw clenching at the knowledge that a child ceased to be a child in the eyes of so many Ordinaries the moment a barcode came into play.

Within the Seattle city limits, attacking a transgenic was now a punishable offence but the same could not be said for the wider world.

"Does he have any problems with just one eye?" she asked, sensing that sympathy was not the response Alec was fishing for. Pity wasn't an emotion transgenics particularly liked.

"He had trouble with depth perception to start with and he lost some peripheral vision but he's adapted," Alec replied as they approached the Ninja. "It doesn't slow him down at all."

Max straddled the motorcycle first and waited for Alec to get on behind her before gunning the engine. They tore away from the building, heading for the one place she knew where they wouldn't be interrupted.

The Space Needle hadn't changed at all in five years except for picking up a bit more graffiti. Alec stood on the very edge, staring out at the horizon while Max sat a few feet behind him, her arms folded across her knees.

"Penny for your thoughts?" she asked after what seemed like an eternity of silence.

"And here I thought you'd be glad that I finally learned to shut up," Alec said with a hint of humour though he didn't turn around.

"Don't get me wrong: it has its advantages," Max shrugged, figuring it couldn't hurt to play along. "Just makes it kind of hard to get a beat on what's going on in that head of yours."

"Nothing," Alec shrugged, then glanced back over his shoulder, smirking a little. "You should know that."

Max rolled her eyes. "With IQs as high as ours, I doubt that," she corrected him, the wind making her long hair stream out behind her. Her lips twisted slightly as he turned back to stare at the horizon, running a restless hand through his hair before letting it fall to hide side.

Max frowned, her brows drawing together as her keen eyes zeroed in on the skin of his palm. She got swiftly to her feet and grabbed hold of his hand, refusing to let go despite his efforts to snatch it back.

"What happened to you?" she demanded, staring down at the unmistakable pattern marring his skin.

"Nothing," he replied, his voice tight.

"Those are burn scars, Alec," Max shot back, still unwilling to release him. "What happened?"

"_I said nothing_," Alec snapped, hazel eyes blazing as he stared her down, wrenching his hand out of her grasp.

Max groaned inwardly as he stalked around the rim of the Needle, frustrated with herself for charging in so clumsily when she should have known better and frustrated with him for being so defensive. There was a time when he'd have taken it all in stride and laughed her off, telling her he was always all right whether it was true or not.

She took a moment to gather her thoughts and followed him to the other side of the Needle. He was crouched down on the edge in silence, a far-away look in his eyes as his thumb traced the scarring patterns on his hand.

"Look, Alec…" Max began, pursing her lips as she hunkered down beside him and chose her words carefully, "I get that you don't want to talk. Five years ago, I wouldn't have believed it but you've convinced me."

Alec continued to stare at the skyline but Max had the feeling that he was listening.

"I think you know you're going to have to tell me what happened," she persisted gently. "You wouldn't have turned up at my apartment if you weren't planning on sharing at some point. You could have gone anywhere but you came here." She dragged in a deep, slow breath and let it out in a rush, finger-combing her wind-blown hair away from her face. "So let's try something different. How about we play twenty questions?"

Alec turned to look at her, his eyes guarded and shadowed at the same time.

"You ask me a question and then I ask you one," she explained, keeping her tone gentle. "We won't do it all at once. We'll take our time but we both have to answer truthfully. Okay? We'll start out easy and work up to the hard stuff. But you know what my last question's going to be."

Alec's gaze moved away yet again and Max watched him turning the idea over in his mind. The silence stretched on but she didn't stir. She knew he wanted her help but she had to push him a little to accept it. If trying to meet him halfway was what it took, she'd do it. He needed to be given a choice, to feel like he had some control over his situation and how it progressed.

She suspected the power to choose was a luxury he'd long been denied.

"Ten," he said at last, his voice barely a whisper. "I'll give you ten questions."

"Deal," she agreed before he could change his mind. "So what do you want to know?"

Alec seemed to think for a long moment, contemplating his options before settling on his first question.

"What happened to everyone?" he finally asked. "OC, Sketchy, Normal… what happened to them?"

Max smiled a little at that and settled down beside him as she cast her mind back over the last five years.


End file.
